Marathwada drought: 12-year-old dies of heat stroke while fetching water in Beed

A 12-year-old girl died due to heat stroke in the drought-hit Beed district in Maharashtra while she had gone to fetch water on Tuesday afternoon. Yogita Ashok Desai, a resident of Sabalkhed village in Beed, was dehydrated after she repeatedly tried to fill water from a hand pump, reports NDTV.

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According to the report, the Class 5 student, who had already made four trips to the hand pump, was dehydrated and collapsed on her fifth when the day's temperature was 44°C. Yogita's uncle Ishwar said, "Schools were closed so she went to fetch water in order to help us. She fell unconscious on her way to the hand pump, was taken to hospital where she was declared dead."

Due to the water scarcity in Marathwada, every member of the family, specially children, are compelled to make multiple trips to water tanks and hand pumps in the sweltering heat.

On Tuesday, Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner Umakant Dangat said that only 3 percent water is left in dams in the parched region.

Eight of the region's 11 major dams are at dead storage level, meaning water from these dams cannot flow out but has to be lifted.

This is a drastic decline in water storage as at this time last year, the level in Marathwada's dams was much higher at 11 percent, Dangat said.

As many as 2,745 water tankers are being used in the region compared to 939 this time last year. The Aurangabad collector has already announced a 20 per centwater cut to local breweries and a 10 percent overall cut to local industry.